This invention relates to the control of a motor-driven actuator, and more particularly to a motor control for reducing audible noise due to armature shaft end-play.
Control systems designed to position a load device frequently utilize an actuator coupled to a DC motor through a gear arrangement that provides a mechanical advantage. This is a common configuration because small permanent magnet DC motors may be produced at low cost, and actuator movement can be detected without position sensors by counting commutation pulses of the motor; see, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,154 to Manlove et al., issued Jun. 20, 2000, and incorporated herein by reference. In many such systems, a worm gear is used to couple the armature of the motor to an output gear having an axis perpendicular to the armature; this is a popular arrangement because the worm gear can be formed or attached directly to the armature shaft, and because it provides a reasonably high mechanical advantage and virtually eliminates back-driving of the armature by the actuator. However, a drawback of this arrangement occurs due to axial shifting of the armature shaft each time the motor rotation is reversed. Mechanical stops are provided for limiting axial movement of the armature shaft, and clunking noises occur when the shaft forcibly impacts the stops. While the axial shifting and clunking noise can be virtually eliminated by minimizing the armature end-play, a certain amount of end-play is highly desirable from the standpoints of manufacturing cost and operating efficiency. Accordingly, what is needed is a way of minimizing the audible noise associated with axial shifting of the motor armature shaft while retaining the above-mentioned benefits of low cost and high efficiency.
The present invention is directed to an improved method of operation for a motor-driven actuator in which the motor is coupled to a load device through a worm gear on an armature shaft of the motor, wherein the motor is energized in a series of pulses during an initial period of motor operation when reversal of the motor is commanded. The pulsed energization produces a slow initial axial movement of the motor armature without moving the load device, minimizing the contact force between the armature shaft and a respective mechanical end stop of the motor. Rotation of the motor is determined by identifying and counting motor current pulses due to commutation, and the pulse count is adjusted at each reversal of the motor to compensate for motor current pulses caused by the pulsed energization.